Assessment of Student Learning at SFCC

1. Assessment of Student Learning at SFCC Presented to the Governing Board of Santa Fe Community College June 26, 2008 Karen Luper, Special Assistant to the Vice President for Academic and Student Affairs and Chair, Assessment Committee

2. The Varieties of Assessment • Course-level assessment • Program-level assessment • existing programs • new programs • Assessment of general education • Assessment of common student learning outcomes

3. Course-level Assessment • HLC re-accreditation visit of 2002 gave SFCC “thumbs-up” on course-level assessment • All course learning outcomes are documented in syllabi • Professional development is ongoing in the use of rubrics and analysis of results to guide course-level improvement of student learning

4. Program-level Assessment • 2004: outcomes and measures ill-defined and not used to guide degree and certificate program improvement • 2007-08: systematic definition of program-level learning outcomes mapped to curriculum, assessed, analyzed and used to guide program improvement

5. Assessment of General Education • 2005-06: HED established competencies in each of 5 general education areas and based approval of course transfer on attainment of competency • 2006-07: with the approval of more than 70 new courses, SFCC vastly increased transferable general education options for students • 2008: all approved general education courses will document assessment mechanisms and use of assessment results to improve curriculum

6. Assessment of Common Student Learning Outcomes (CSLO’s) • CSLO’s apply across curriculum, and look like: • communication and listening skills • effective interaction in diverse environments • critical thinking skills • civic engagement • 2008-09: SFCC will involve faculty and staff in redefining CSLO’s, linked to core values and with attention to assessment